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What Can Three Classic 70s Songs Teach Us About Dealership Operations?

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Article Highlights:

  • Today's customers want their needs met wherever they are.
  • Your employees should also have processes that increase efficiency.

From classic rock to disco, heavy metal to funk, or soft rock to new wave, there are so many music options to listen to and enjoy from the 70s. Just as everyone has preferences in their music taste, so do your customers in the way they want to interact with you. Are you able to offer options for your customers that meet whatever need or preference they may have? And are your employees operating with flexible processes that allow for them to easily offer those options?

Allow me to explain, but let’s have some fun with it. Grab some headphones and see how these classic songs from the 70s teach us about modern dealership operations.

Go Your Own Way by Fleetwood Mac

If you’re not meeting your customers’ expectations or offering them an enjoyable experience, you can bet they are going to go their own way to another store that does. Customers want the flexibility of signing paperwork remotely or making a service payment online.

So, how can you do all this and stay better than your competition? Retail Anywhere. When utilized, you can meet your customers online, in-store, or a combination of both. This gives you the ability to let your customers decide when and how they want to do business with you, leading them back to your store rather than going their own way to a competitor.

Money, Money, Money by ABBA

When running a business, there is one thing at the center of everyone’s focus – Money. Money. Money. Or in other words, cash flow. I’m sure you’ve asked yourself, “What can I do to speed up my store’s cash flow?”. Across departments, you have money floating and you don’t have control over when it hits your bank account. How can you set yourself up to ensure long-term positive cash flow? It’s simpler than you think.

Things like adding mobile payment processes to your service drive speed up the time it takes to close ROs and collect customer payments. Or, what if you could send deals for funding electronically, lowering your CIT times? Processes and operations like these increase efficiencies, cut costs, and improve the customer experience. All things that factor into you having precise control of cash flow across every transaction, and ultimately living in “a rich man’s world”.

Take It Easy by The Eagles

Do your current systems and processes make your employees’ lives easier or cause “a world of trouble on their mind”? Processes that cause employees to take extra steps like rekeying information, constantly walking between departments, or stuffing and mailing envelopes hurt your dealership. This only causes time and money to be wasted. With today’s turnover rates, it’s vital you are doing everything you can to keep your employees satisfied. When it comes to improving employee efficiency and satisfaction, digitizing is a great place to start. Utilizing a single system that is built to work together can eliminate these manual processes and let your employees take it easy and focus on more profitable operations.

Those are just a few songs from the 70s. I’m sure there are plenty more hits your business could relate to.

Let me leave you with this. Digital retailing options alone won’t help you meet these expectations. You need a single Retail Anywhere approach for your customers and employees that is designed for your entire dealership to make you more profitable and efficient.

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Chief Customer Ambassador

Dave Bates is vice president of Customer Relations and Chief Customer Ambassador at Reynolds and Reynolds. Dave is focused on providing a direct conduit between Reynolds and its customers, with the goal of bringing the voice of the customer to the forefront of the organization and strengthening Reynolds’ partnerships across the board.

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